But Chris Glasgo hasn't allowed the distance to stop her from embarking on a new adventure.

Glasgo, who retired from nursing in 2012, is home on leave from volunteering on Mercy Ships, an international medical ministry.

A native of Wilmot, Glasgo grew up on a farm. She and her late husband, Richard, who was a pharmacist at Mercy Medical Center, were married for 32 years before he lost his battle with cancer in 2010.

"This is something we had wanted to do together," she said. "We talked about it in the 1980s, and my husband read their book. I'm carrying on his dream."

LIFE ONBOARD

Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens. It has served more than 2 million people in 70 nations. Volunteers, who pay for their own room and board, come from 45 countries.

Glasgo herself worked at Mercy Medical Center for 17 years, retiring in 2007, followed by five more years as a nurse at Sandy Valley High School before finally retiring in 2012.

"I had no idea of what I was going to do. When the Mercy Ships came back to mind, I applied," she said.

Glasgo had never been overseas.

Following six weeks of training, in Lindale, Texas, Glasgo was assigned in March to the "Africa Mercy," the world's largest charity hospital ship. It has five surgical theaters and bed space for 82 patients. (Information has been changed to correct an error at noon, 12/30/13. See correction at end of story.)

She's is among 400 volunteer crew members.

"We live on the ship," she said. "I live in a six-berth cabin with women from Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand and two from the U.S. — from Pennsylvania and California."

The ship has eight decks.

"I was pretty intimidated by all the steps, but after a week or two, I didn't think anything of it," she laughed. "The food is surprisingly good; it's wonderful. When you think about them cooking for 400-plus residents, plus 200-plus day crews."

Glasgo works on the ship as one of three admission nurses in tents set up at the bottom of the gangway. Working with translators, she takes patients' health histories and vital signs, draws their blood for lab work and, "we pray with them with their permission."

Glasgo said the ship's three surgeons operate on about eight to 12 patients in a day.

The medical services are free to patients. "The volunteers pay," she said.

Glasgo said that while the experience is rewarding, it has not been a cruise vacation.

"What do I miss when I'm on the ship? Of course my family. I miss out on family/friend events, like the birth of my grandson," she said. " I miss my gardens and the birds in my backyard. I miss long hot showers since we are limited to two-minute showers — turn the water on, get wet, turn the water off, soap and shampoo up then turn the water back on to rinse. Water conservation at its best!"

Page 2 of 2 - PEOPLE TRANSFORMED

Compared to the West, Glasgo said access to good medical care in Africa is sorely lacking.

"You have to have money to have access to health care in most of those countries," she said. "Because they don't have access, some people have huge facial tumors that have been growing for years. There are people with cleft lip and palates that normally you'd see treated after birth. But we treat adults who have them."

Mercy Ships, she said, also trains local surgeons.

Glasgo said she had planned to stay on the Mercy Africa until the end of her field service in May, but the birth of a grandson three months before he was due, has led her home for a couple of weeks.

"Every year, I want to go back to five to six months, from January to June," she said.

The Mercy Ships, Glasgo said, are in need of non-medical volunteers.

"It's not just nurses; it's cooks, cleaners, engineers, and deck hands," she said. "There's also an academy onboard the ship for the children of the crew. It's like a mini village."

Glasgo said people can volunteer for as short as two-weeks, or "as long as the rest of your life, and anything between.

"I don't think I'll ever look at the world the same way again," she said. "I've been blessed by so many things, that I like to share that in some small way.

"People's lives have been transformed by the ships. People who have been ostracized by their diseases, have been treated and able to return to their place in society.

"Why do I do what I do? Because it is the right thing to do, to provide hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor."

Correction: Mercy Ships is based in Lindale, Texas. The wrong city was listed when this story was first publshed online 12/28/13.